Saturday, February 19, 2011

The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup will be the tenth Cricket World Cup and will be hosted by three South Asian Test cricket playing countries: India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It will be Bangladesh's first time co-hosting a Cricket World Cup. The World Cup will use cricket's One Day International format, with fourteen national cricket teams scheduled to compete. The World Cup will take place between February and early April 2011, with the first match to be played on 19 February 2011 with co-hosts India and Bangladesh facing off at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka. The opening ceremony was held on 17 February 2011 at Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka.

Stumpy is the official mascot for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. He is a ten year old elephant who is enthusiastic and is determined.

The official song of the 2010 World Cup "De Ghuma Ke" is composed by the trio of Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, and is sung in Hindi, Bangla and Sinhala. It has been sung by Shankar Mahadevan and Divya Kumar. It incorporates an array of Indian rhythms, as well as elements of rock and hip-hop. The song was performed in the opening ceremony.

The official event ambassador for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is Sachin Tendulkar.
The 1983 Cricket World Cup (Prudential Cup) was the third edition of the tournament. It was held from 9 June to 25 June 1983 in England and was won by India. Eight countries participated in the event. The preliminary matches were played in two groups of four teams each, and each country played the others in its group twice. The top two teams in each group qualified for the semi-finals.

The matches consisted of 60 overs per team and were played in traditional white clothing and with red balls. They were all played during the day. England, Pakistan, India and tournament favorites West Indies qualified for the semifinals.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Europe’s unmanned space freighter is ready to be launched from French Guiana. This launch is doubly significant because it marks also the 200th mission of an Ariane rocket since the vehicle series was introduced in 1979.

At more than 20 tonnes, the truck will be the heaviest payload an Ariane 5 rocket has ever lifted into the sky. The robotic ship, dubbed Johannes Kepler, will be delivering food, air, fuel, experiments and other equipment to the International Space Station. Another key task for the freighter in the coming months will be to push the station to a higher altitude.

The ISS has a tendency to lose height over time as it brushes through the residual atmosphere still present 350km above the Earth. Johannes Kepler will dock with the rear of the platform and use its propulsive might to boost the station’s orbit. “Kepler’s mass at lift off will be 20,062kg. This is a record for the launcher and for the European Space Agency.